Jeff Tarango

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Jeff Tarango
Full nameJeffrey Gail Tarango
Country (sports) United States
ResidenceManhattan Beach, California, United States
Born (1968-11-20) November 20, 1968 (age 55)
Manhattan Beach, California, United States
Height5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Turned pro1989
Retired2010
PlaysLeft-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$3,730,289
Singles
Career record239–294
Career titles2
Highest rankingNo. 42 (2 November 1992)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open3R (1997, 1999)
French Open3R (1993, 1996)
Wimbledon3R (1995)
US Open3R (1989, 1996, 1997)
Other tournaments
Olympic Games2R (2000)
Doubles
Career record253–247
Career titles14
Highest rankingNo. 10 (18 October 1999)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open3R (1996, 2001, 2002)
French OpenF (1999)
Wimbledon3R (1997, 2001)
US Open3R (1996, 1997, 2000)
Grand Slam mixed doubles results
Australian OpenQF (2000, 2002)
French OpenQF (2000)
WimbledonQF (1998)
US OpenQF (1997)
Last updated on: 12 October 2021.

Jeffrey Gail Tarango (born November 20, 1968) is a retired American tennis player. He was a top-ten doubles player and a runner-up at the 1999 French Open men's doubles tournament. He is now the Director of Tennis at the Jack Kramer Club, which is just south of Los Angeles. In 2018, he was the tournament director of a $30,000 men's California championships. At that championships, ATP world-ranked No. 11, Sam Querrey, beat Davis Cup captain Mardy Fish to win this event.

Tarango now resides in Manhattan Beach, California with his wife and children. He is married to Jessica Balgrosky, and they have five children (Nina Rose, Katherine, Jackson, Ace, and Jesse).

Career[edit]

Pro tour[edit]

Tarango turned professional in 1989 after completing his junior year at Stanford University, where he won two NCAA team titles. During his career, he won two top-level singles titles and 14 doubles titles. Tarango reached two Super 9 quarterfinals, Rome in 1995 and Miami in 1998. His career-high world rankings are No. 42 in singles and No. 10 in doubles.[1] He was runner-up in the men's doubles at the 1999 French Open, partnering with Goran Ivanišević.

Wimbledon 1995 default[edit]

In the third round trailing 6–7, 1–3 to Alexander Mronz, Tarango became infuriated with French umpire Bruno Rebeuh, who had ruled against Tarango several times. During the match, when preparing to serve, the crowd heckled Tarango and he responded "Oh, shut up!" Rebeuh immediately issued a code violation to Tarango on the grounds of audible obscenity. Tarango protested this violation, called for the tournament referee, and asked for Rebeuh to be removed. Tarango was instructed to continue to play. He then accused Rebeuh of being "one of the most corrupt officials in the game" – to this Rebeuh gave Tarango another code violation, this time for verbal abuse. Tarango took umbrage, packed his rackets and stormed off the court.[2] To add to the controversy, Tarango's wife at the time then slapped Rebeuh twice in the face.[3]

Tarango was banned by the ITF from the 1996 Wimbledon tournament.

Tarango was also the beneficiary of a default in the men's doubles tournament earlier at the same championship. He and partner Henrik Holm were at two sets to one down against the team of Jeremy Bates and Tim Henman when Henman angrily smashed a ball that inadvertently hit ball girl Caroline Hall, resulting in their disqualification.[4] Coincidentally, Hall was also a ball girl in Tarango's match against Mronz.[5]

After retirement[edit]

Tarango retired from the main tour in 2003 and now devotes his time to coaching as well as broadcasting for BBC, ESPN, Tennis Channel, Fox Sports and DirecTV. He also hosts a charity event in La Jolla for the Rady Children's Hospital in San Diego. Tarango is currently the vice chair for the AAC on the USOC (Governance Committee). He has been a member of the Davis Cup Committee for six years within the USTA. He still makes occasional appearances at professional events, including the 2008 USA F21 Futures event in Milwaukee.[6] He also provides commentary for BBC Radio and in particular for its extended coverage on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra. During his broadcasting career, Tarango has earned a reputation for having a good eye for potential Hawk-Eye overrules.

In his 2009 autobiography Open, Andre Agassi claims that Tarango cheated in a juniors tournament to hand the eight-year-old Agassi his first- competitive loss.[7] To which, Tarango says they had a chair umpire and Agassi is lying throughout the book "just to make money". Tarango has coached many players such as Younes El Aynaoui, Andrei Medvedev, Maria Sharapova, Vince Spadea, Mirjana Lučić, Irakli Labadze, and JC Aragone.

After professional tennis, Tarango worked for the AON Corporation with Theodore Forstmann and Andy Roddick.

ATP career finals[edit]

Singles: 6 (2 titles, 4 runner-ups)[edit]

Legend
Grand Slam Tournaments (0–0)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP World Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP World Tour 500 Series (0–0)
ATP World Tour 250 Series (2–4)
Finals by surface
Hard (2–3)
Clay (0–1)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Finals by setting
Outdoors (2–3)
Indoors (0–1)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Loss 0–1 Aug 1988 Livingston, United States Grand Prix Hard United States Andre Agassi 2–6, 4–6
Loss 0–2 Apr 1991 Seoul, South Korea World Series Hard Germany Patrick Baur 4–6, 6–1, 6–7
Win 1–2 Jan 1992 Wellington, New Zealand World Series Hard Soviet Union Alexander Volkov 6–1, 6–0, 6–3
Win 2–2 Oct 1992 Tel Aviv, Israel World Series Hard France Stéphane Simian 4–6, 6–3, 6–4
Loss 2–3 Sep 1994 Bordeaux, France World Series Hard South Africa Wayne Ferreira 0–6, 5–7
Loss 2–4 Aug 1999 Umag, Croatia World Series Clay Sweden Magnus Norman 2–6, 4–6

Doubles: 25 (14 titles, 11 runners-up)[edit]

Legend
Grand Slam tournaments (0–1)
ATP World Tour Finals (0–0)
ATP Masters Series (0–1)
ATP Championship Series (2–2)
ATP World Series (12–7)
Finals by surface
Hard (6–6)
Clay (6–4)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (2–1)
Finals by setting
Outdoor (10–9)
Indoor (4–2)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Jun 1994 St. Polten, Austria World Series Clay Malaysia Adam Malik Czech Republic Vojtěch Flégl
Australia Andrew Florent
6–3, 1–6, 4–6
Win 1–1 Apr 1995 Seoul, South Korea World Series Hard Canada Sébastien Lareau Australia Andrew Florent
Australia Joshua Eagle
6–3, 6–2
Win 2–1 Jul 1995 Washington, United States Championship Series Hard France Olivier Delaître Czech Republic Petr Korda
Czech Republic Cyril Suk
4–6, 6–3, 6–2
Win 3–1 Sep 1995 Bucharest, Romania World Series Clay United States Mark Keil Czech Republic Daniel Vacek
Czech Republic Cyril Suk
6–4, 7–6
Win 4–1 Jul 1996 Båstad, Sweden World Series Clay Sweden David Ekerot Australia Joshua Eagle
Sweden Peter Nyborg
6–4, 3–6, 6–4
Win 5–1 Sep 1996 Bucharest, Romania World Series Clay Sweden David Ekerot South Africa David Adams
Netherlands Menno Oosting
7–6, 7–6
Loss 5–2 Jan 1998 Auckland, New Zealand World Series Hard Netherlands Tom Nijssen United States Patrick Galbraith
New Zealand Brett Steven
4–6, 2–6
Loss 5–3 Aug 1998 Los Angeles, United States World Series Hard Czech Republic Daniel Vacek Australia Patrick Rafter
Australia Sandon Stolle
4–6, 4–6
Win 6–3 Nov 1998 Moscow, Russia World Series Carpet United States Jared Palmer Czech Republic Daniel Vacek
Russia Yevgeny Kafelnikov
6–4, 6–7, 6–3
Win 7–3 Jan 1999 Auckland, New Zealand World Series Hard Czech Republic Daniel Vacek Czech Republic Jiří Novák
Czech Republic David Rikl
7–5, 7–5
Win 8–3 Feb 1999 St. Petersburg, Russia World Series Carpet Czech Republic Daniel Vacek Romania Andrei Pavel
Netherlands Menno Oosting
3–6, 6–3, 7–5
Win 9–3 Apr 1999 Tokyo, Japan Championship Series Hard Czech Republic Daniel Vacek United States Brian Macphie
Zimbabwe Wayne Black
4–3 ret.
Loss 9–4 Jun 1999 French Open, France Grand Slam Clay Croatia Goran Ivanišević India Mahesh Bhupathi
India Leander Paes
2–6, 5–7
Win 10–4 Jul 1999 Båstad, Sweden World Series Clay South Africa David Adams Sweden Mikael Tillström
Sweden Nicklas Kulti
7–6, 6–4
Win 11–4 Sep 1999 Bournemouth, United Kingdom World Series Clay South Africa David Adams Germany Michael Kohlmann
Sweden Nicklas Kulti
6–3, 6–7, 7–6
Win 12–4 Oct 1999 Toulouse, France World Series Hard France Olivier Delaître South Africa David Adams
South Africa John-Laffnie de Jager
3–6, 7–6, 6–4
Loss 12–5 Jan 2000 Auckland, New Zealand World Series Hard France Olivier Delaître South Africa Ellis Ferreira
United States Rick Leach
5–7, 4–6
Loss 12–6 Oct 2000 Tokyo, Japan Championship Series Hard Australia Michael Hill India Mahesh Bhupathi
India Leander Paes
4–6, 7–6(7–1), 3–6
Win 13–6 Nov 2000 Brighton, United Kingdom World Series Hard Australia Michael Hill United States Paul Goldstein
United States Jim Thomas
6–3, 7–5
Loss 13–7 Feb 2001 Marseilles, France World Series Hard Australia Michael Hill France Julien Boutter
France Fabrice Santoro
6–7(7–9), 5–7
Win 14–7 Apr 2001 Casablanca, Morocco World Series Clay Australia Michael Hill Argentina Pablo Albano
Australia David Macpherson
7–6(7–2), 6–3
Loss 14–8 Jul 2001 Gstaad, Switzerland World Series Clay Australia Michael Hill Switzerland Roger Federer
Russia Marat Safin
1–0 ret.
Loss 14–9 Jul 2001 Stuttgart, Germany Championship Series Clay Australia Michael Hill Argentina Guillermo Cañas
Germany Rainer Schüttler
6–4, 6–7(1–7), 4–6
Loss 14–10 Oct 2001 Moscow, Russia International Series Carpet India Mahesh Bhupathi Belarus Max Mirnyi
Australia Sandon Stolle
3–6, 0–6
Loss 14–11 Oct 2001 Stuttgart, Germany Masters Series Hard South Africa Ellis Ferreira Belarus Max Mirnyi
Australia Sandon Stolle
6–7(1–7), 6–7(4–7)

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures finals[edit]

Singles: 6 (3–3)[edit]

Legend
ATP Challenger (3–3)
ITF Futures (0–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–3)
Clay (3–0)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Opponent Score
Win 1–0 Jun 1990 Furth, Germany Challenger Clay Chile Felipe Rivera 6–0, 6–0
Loss 1–1 Sep 1993 Azores, Portugal Challenger Hard France Rodolphe Gilbert 1–6, 7–5, 4–6
Loss 1–2 Oct 1993 Reunion, Reunion Island Challenger Hard Haiti Ronald Agénor 3–6, 4–6
Loss 1–3 Nov 1995 Nantes, France Challenger Hard France Guillaume Raoux 2–6, 5–7
Win 2–3 Aug 1997 Poznań, Poland Challenger Clay Czech Republic David Rikl 7–5, 6–3
Win 3–3 Jul 1999 Newcastle, United Kingdom Challenger Clay Haiti Ronald Agénor 3–6, 6–0, 7–6

Doubles: 7 (4–3)[edit]

Legend
ATP Challenger (3–3)
ITF Futures (1–0)
Finals by surface
Hard (2–2)
Clay (2–1)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
Result W–L Date Tournament Tier Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 0–1 Sep 1993 Azores, Portugal Challenger Hard United Kingdom Chris Bailey United States Bryan Shelton
The Bahamas Roger Smith
4–6, 4–6
Win 1–1 Oct 1993 Réunion, Réunion Island Challenger Hard United States Jonathan Canter South Africa Mark Kaplan
South Africa Lan Bale
6–4, 3–6, 7–5
Loss 1–2 Jun 1995 Košice, Slovakia Challenger Clay Romania Adrian Voinea Czech Republic Jiří Novák
Czech Republic David Rikl
6–7, 2–6
Win 2–2 Jun 1996 Košice, Slovakia Challenger Clay France Olivier Delaître Czech Republic Jan Kodeš Jr.
Czech Republic Petr Pála
7–6, 6–3
Win 3–2 Jun 2000 Braunschweig, Germany Challenger Clay Germany Jens Knippschild Spain Álex López Morón
Spain Albert Portas
6–2, 6–2
Loss 3–3 Feb 2003 Andrezieux, France Challenger Hard Australia Stephen Huss Czech Republic David Škoch
Croatia Lovro Zovko
6–7(4–7), 6–0, 3–6
Win 4–3 Aug 2008 USA F21, Milwaukee Futures Hard United States Edward Kelly South Africa Raven Klaasen
United States Ryan Young
6–3, 3–6. [11–9]

Performance timelines[edit]

Key
W  F  SF QF #R RR Q# DNQ A NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.

Singles[edit]

Tournament 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 SR W–L Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A 2R Q3 1R 2R 1R 1R 1R 2R 3R 1R 3R 1R 1R 0 / 12 7–12 37%
French Open A A A A 1R 2R 3R 2R 1R 3R 2R 2R 1R 1R Q1 0 / 10 8–10 44%
Wimbledon A A 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 1R 3R A 1R 2R 2R 2R A 0 / 11 5–11 31%
US Open 1R 1R 3R 1R 2R 2R 1R 2R 1R 3R 3R 1R 1R 1R A 0 / 14 9–14 39%
Win–loss 0–1 0–1 3–3 0–2 1–4 3–4 2–4 2–4 2–4 5–3 5–4 2–4 3–4 1–4 0–1 0 / 47 29–47 38%
Olympic Games
Summer Olympics NH A Not Held A Not Held A Not Held 2R NH 0 / 1 1–1 50%
ATP Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells Masters A A A A A A 1R Q3 A A 2R A A A 1R 0 / 3 1–3 25%
Miami Open A A A 3R 2R 1R 3R 2R 1R A 2R QF 1R 1R Q2 0 / 10 11–10 52%
Stuttgart NH A A A A A A A A A 1R Q1 A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Monte Carlo A A A A A A A A A A A 1R A A A 0 / 1 0–1 0%
Rome A A A A A 1R A A QF A 1R 1R Q1 1R Q1 0 / 5 3–5 38%
Hamburg A A A A A A A A A A 2R A A 1R A 0 / 2 1–2 33%
Canada Masters A A 2R 1R 2R 2R 2R 1R 2R A A 1R A 1R A 0 / 9 5–9 36%
Cincinnati Masters A A A A A 1R 2R A A A A 2R A 1R Q2 0 / 4 2–4 33%
Paris Masters A A A A A 1R Q3 Q3 Q2 Q1 1R Q1 Q1 A A 0 / 2 0–2 0%
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 1–1 2–2 2–2 1–5 4–4 1–2 4–3 0–0 3–6 5–5 0–1 0–5 0–1 0 / 37 23–37 38%

Doubles[edit]

Tournament 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 SR W–L Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A A A A A A A A 1R 3R 1R 1R 2R 1R 3R 3R 1R 0 / 9 7–9 44%
French Open A A A A A A A A 2R 2R 1R 2R F 1R SF 1R 1R 0 / 9 11–9 55%
Wimbledon A A A A A A A A 2R A 3R 2R 2R 2R 3R 2R 2R 0 / 8 10–8 56%
US Open 1R A A A A A A 2R 1R 3R 3R 1R 1R 3R 1R 2R 1R 0 / 11 8–11 42%
Win–loss 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 2–4 5–3 4–4 2–4 7–4 3–4 7–4 4–4 1–4 0 / 37 36–37 49%
ATP Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells Masters A A A A A A A A A A 1R 1R A 1R QF 1R A 0 / 5 2–5 29%
Miami Open A A A A A A A A A A 1R 1R 3R 2R 3R 2R A 0 / 6 3–6 33%
Stuttgart NH A A A A A A A A A Q1 A 1R A F A A 0 / 2 4–2 67%
Monte Carlo A A A A A A A A A A A 1R QF 1R 2R 1R A 0 / 5 2–5 29%
Rome A A A A A A A A QF A QF 1R QF 1R 1R 1R A 0 / 7 6–7 46%
Hamburg A A A A A A A A A A 1R A A 1R 1R 1R A 0 / 4 0–4 0%
Canada Masters A A 1R A A A A QF QF A A 1R A 1R QF QF A 0 / 7 8–7 53%
Cincinnati Masters A A A A A A A A A A A 1R A 2R SF 1R A 0 / 4 4–4 50%
Paris Masters A A A A A A A A 2R A Q2 Q1 1R QF 2R A A 0 / 4 4–4 50%
Win–loss 0–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 0–0 2–1 5–3 0–0 2–4 0–6 5–5 3–8 14–9 2–7 0–0 0 / 44 33–44 43%

Mixed doubles[edit]

Tournament 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 SR W–L Win %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian Open A 1R A A 2R QF 1R QF A 0 / 5 5–5 50%
French Open A A 2R A A QF 1R 2R A 0 / 4 3–4 43%
Wimbledon A A A QF A A 3R 1R 2R 0 / 4 6–4 60%
US Open 2R A QF A A A 2R 2R 1R 0 / 5 5–5 50%
Win–loss 1–1 0–1 2–2 3–1 1–1 4–2 3–4 4–4 1–2 0 / 18 19–18 51%

Junior Grand Slam finals[edit]

Doubles: 1 (1 runner-up)[edit]

Result Year Tournament Surface Partner Opponents Score
Loss 1986 US Open Hard United States David Wheaton Spain Tomás Carbonell
Spain Javier Sánchez
4–6, 6–1, 1–6

References[edit]

  1. ^ ATPWorldTour player profile
  2. ^ Cart, Julie (July 2, 1995). "Wimbledon Takes a Slap in the Face: Tennis: Tarango becomes first to walk off court, then accuses umpire of favoritism". Los Angeles Times.
  3. ^ The Advertiser: Sport's most embarrassing moments- no. 15. A wag and a slapper
  4. ^ "Fans were treated to the longest women's match in Grand Slam history". AP NEWS.
  5. ^ Game, Set, DEFAULT? Ten Tennis DQs To Remember, thetennisisland.com
  6. ^ "ITF Tennis – Mens Circuit – Player Activity". www.itftennis.com. Archived from the original on September 29, 2004.
  7. ^ "First Scandal in Agassi Book — Jeff Tarango Cheated Him at Age 10, by Charles Pennington : Daily Speculations".

External links[edit]